The Meeting
by H.D.Lynn
Summary: A short story, the first in a series, about Haldir, a nightingale, a butterfly, and a lost elf child named Eleniel, and how they meet in Lorien. The Sequel "The Coming of Age" is now up.
1. Act 1, Part 1

**Act 1: The Meeting**

Disclaimer: I do not own in anyway, any of the works by J.R.R. Tolkien, I only own Eleniel and other original characters and what happens to them.

Chapter 1

Little Eleniel was boiling mad at her brothers Elladan and Elrohir. They never let her play with them anymore. Just because she was a girl didn't mean she didn't like to play "war" or getting dirty in the process. Her family had come to Lorien, to visit her grandparents Galadriel and Celeborn, a fortnight ago. And the 10 year old elleth was in desperate need of some playmates, because of her brothers certain no they had given her.

Some may wonder how it is possible for such a young elf to cover as much ground as Eleniel had, or how she managed to sneak past so many watchful elvin eyes. But it did happen, and now Eleniel, daughter of Elrond and Celebrían, was most certainly lost. In the middle of the Golden Woods, miles from were she had started, and ignorant to that fact, she was still mad at her brothers.

'Just because they're older than me doesn't mean they can boss me around. They're only a few hours older than me… I didn't really want to play with them anyway.'

After sometime, no one is quite sure when, the little head started to cool and tiny feet tire. Causing Eleniel to realize something, it was starting to get dark, and she had no idea were she was! No mater, she would go back the way she came… if only she knew which way that was. After pondering what to do, a little bird's song caught her attention.

"That way is as good as any," Eleniel said out loud as she started off in the general direction of the song. Maybe she'll even get to see the birdie.

But the nightingale didn't let itself to be seen this day.

~*~

Lothlórien about the Same Time

Castiel was getting more frazzled by the minute; she had just gotten Elladan and Elrohir down from a very high and very thin tree branch. She could almost swear they were part squirrel with how fast they were. She sighed as they rushed off to pester the unlucky elf passing, which just happened to be the Lord Glorfindel. Finally a break, those two were going to drive her insane soon. At least Eleniel wasn't adding to the chaos today. Thinking of Eleniel, were _was_ she? It had been a while since Castiel had last seen her; maybe she went to look at the fountains again. Or more likely jump into the fountains and splash around again.

The elleth paled at the thought of a very muddy and wet elf child, running around in the Lady of Light's home. Quickly getting up to stop the imagined problem before it happened, because isn't that the best time to stop disasters. Before they dripped on the expensive carpets, left grimy hand prints on the walls and before the glassware got broken, Castiel ran.

~*~

Somewhere In the Golden Wood

The birdie had soon been forgotten, to be replaced by a big, orange and yellow butterfly, its shimmering wings taunting Eleniel to follow and try to and catch, as it flitted to and fro. Over rocks, moss, and fallen trees, the chase went. Little hands trying to grasp a figurative wisp of air, as the sun steadily marched closer to the west.

~*~

At one of the many Border Posts

Haldir shifted his quiver to a more comfortable position, as the rest of his fellow contingent left for the city. Their three year stay at the borders was over, and everyone one was eager to get back to home and family.

It had been his first full-length assignment at the borders, and he was as eager as the others. But he needed some time to be alone and to reflect, before getting back to his brothers. It was guaranteed that they would both keep him up well into the night catching up, and informing him of the latest news. No-one noticed the lone elf ship from the back of the merry group, heading into the thick wood.

~*~

Back in the City

Two hours had gone by, and no one in the whole city had seen Eleniel. After Castiel had been unable to locate the missing child, many others had been asked to join in the search. Including Eleniel's father, Lord Elrond, who had quickly put together search parties to look outside the city limits, when it became obvious that she had gotten out unseen and unheard.

~*~

Back to Eleniel

Sharp pricks of pain shot up Eleniel's hands and knees as she got up from the rocky stream bed. She hadn't been watching were she was going in the half-light, and had fallen because of it. Luckily it was mid-summer, or she would have fallen into the stream and swept away, instead of the now exposed river bed. Hungry and tired, Eleniel saw the sun sink even farther. Causing shadows to lengthen, casting an eerie light over the quiet forest, increasing her discomfort and apprehension.

She wished she was still with her brothers and Castiel, their nurse-maid. Or even better with her Ada and Naneth, in Grandmother's sitting room listening to Grandfather's fairy stories, surrounded by the warmth and comfort of family. She started at a loud splash, and turned in time to see a large rock settling at the bottom of the stream.

Tears running down the frightened face, the lost little soul, scuttled underneath a small ledge, curling up into a small ball. Hours seemed to go by as time dragged on, but in truth only 15 minutes had passed. She worked up the courage to speak, or at least try to.

"Ead-dar," was the first mangled attempt, perhaps it would come out better a second time.

"A-adar…Ada, I-Im gost-ta."*

*Translation: Daddy, Daddy, I'm afraid.


	2. Act 1, Part 2

Chapter 2

Haldir walked along the banks of a fair sized stream that cut off from the River Nimrodel quite a ways back. About a mile down the current slowed and the stream deepened eventually turning into a fair sized pond. His father had often taken him and the family swimming on a warm summer's day, not that long ago, at least for an elf. But now that both of their parents had left for the undying lands, the brothers rarely came here anymore…

The ellon stiffened at a slight sound,

'What was that?' he thought, 'It sounded like crying, but why would anyone be this far from the city and at night.'

'It was coming from under a small ledge. Oh, by the Valar! It was a young elf child. She looked to only 5 or 6 in human years, so she was only about 10 years of age… and she was incredibly dirty.

Talking softly to lost child, Haldir tried not to scare her, for she had not yet seen him.

"Suilaind, little one."*

She started at the greeting, and was quite terrified for an instant before realizing that the elf before her meant no harm. The first words out of her mouth were;

"Do you know where my ada is?"

~*~

Eleniel's POV

Eleniel crawled out from the ledge and looked into the ellon's face as her told her that he would take her back to the city to find her father. Or tried to look at his face, even though he was kneeling down he was still much taller than her. He was almost as tall as Uncle Glorfindel, which is very tall, even for an elf.

She tiredly fidgeted as Haldir, he had told her his name, gently bandaged the cuts on her hands and knees. He even gave her some lembas bread when her tummy growled very loudly. After about 10 minutes of silence in the dark as the ellon carried her, Eleniel started to get bored… very bored, and had many questions about her rescuer. Haldir just kept walking, completely clueless about the bombardment about to hit him.

Eleniel took a deep breath…

~*~

Haldir's POV

Haldir couldn't believe how fast the child could talk; one would think that after being lost, for who knew how long, would be able to bounce back so quickly. His mind raced to keep up with Eleniel's pace. 'That was now 15, no, 16 questions and counting. It was getting quite late but that wasn't stopping her, she hadn't even paused long enough for him to answer.' Haldir had never really felt at ease with children, even when his brothers were very young, they were too unpredictable for his liking and this situation wasn't helping matters any.

'Well there was always the place his father often took him and his brothers to calm down, when they were younger and couldn't get it sleep. It wasn't much farther, but he would have to have her to quite down long enough to get there, it sounded so much easier when he thought of it.

"Eleniel"

She kept talking…

"_Eleniel_"

'Well at least she paused this time, or maybe she was taking a breath.'

"ELENIEL, I HAVE SOMETHING TO TELL YOU!"

Eleniel finally stopped her interrogation, looking nervous at his tone, this most likely wasn't the first time she had gone on such a tangent.

Haldir took a deep breath and started over. "There is something I want you to see, but you have to be quiet if we are going to see it."

Her eyes widened in understanding, as she whispered, "I'll be quiet."

~*~

Galadriel's POV

The Lady of Light had been looking into her mirror for some time, having found her young granddaughter some time ago. She had been unable to find the lost girl until late evening but was still unable to locate Eleniel. However when the young border guard, Haldir, found her, Galadriel decided to just watch and let everything play out knowing everything would be fine.

She was especially glad to have done so when Eleniel had started her usual shower of questions, the ellon didn't have a clue what to do, the look on his face was priceless. Even more amazing was how he was able to get her to stop and be quiet. Galadriel smiled as she when to sit with Celebrían, the boys had been put to bed for the night, and it would still be a little while till Haldir and Eleniel got back.

'The Valar certainly have a sense of humor,' Galadriel thought.

'No matter how this turns out, this event's effects on the future wouldn't be able to be changed. It could take a few hundred years, but she could bide her time. She would need that time to get use to the idea anyway, after all Eleniel is only 10.'

~*~

* Suilaind: hello or greetings

A short explanation of the ages of Eleniel and her brothers, for a better guide to their ages, I made an approximant to how old they would be, how old they would look like and went from there.

Here is a table to demonstrate:

(Numbers are years and the corresponding years are either above or below depending on how you look at it.)

Elves: 5, 10, 20, 35, 50

Men: 3, 5, 10, 15, 20

After 50 elves are usually finished maturing physically and this is when they are considered adults.

I hope this will help if there is any confusion, and I expect to have the next part up as soon as possible.

Thanks for reading, and if time allows please rate.


	3. Act 1, Part 3

Chapter 3

Punch, flip, squish, thump. Celebrían put the bread dough in a large bowl to rise and wiped the flour off her hands, to get the first loafs out of the ovens and pop the second set in. Even at a young age she had often been found in the kitchens when she had something on her mind, and this was one of those times. She sat down, with a very unladylike huff, right at the moment her mother entered the room.

She smiled tiredly, but it didn't reach her eyes.

"You needn't worry, Eleniel is perfectly safe. A young warden found her awhile ago, and he wouldn't let anything happen to her."

"I know naneth, but I can't help but worry until I can see her myself."

Galadriel smiled and hugged her daughter, "Well I believe we're going to have two reasons to keep busy till they get back."

Both of them looked toward the door way, and heard the patter of feet on the floor, and saw two little heads peek around the doorway. Celebrían smiled and called them in. Immediately the two boys ran in, and jumped up onto the two open laps.

"We can't get to sleep naneth!"

"Can we _please_ stay up with you and Grandmother?"

"I don't know Elladan, it is very late. I don't want two grumpy little boys, tomorrow."

"Pleeaassee, we can help you with the bread and… stuff!"

"Well…" the boys looked at her with the most pitiful of looks, "I suppose you to can stay up, but on one condition, that you both have to take a nap by midday."

The boys look at each other weighing the options, and said together, "We promise."

Celebrían sighed and wondered what she had just gotten herself into.

~*~

Back to Haldir and Eleniel

They trekked on in silence for about 5 minutes, when all of a sudden Haldir stopped and looked at Eleniel as if to make sure she would be silent, and then slowly parted the hanging branches of an ancient willow tree. Behind those branches was a sight that most never forgot if they had the chance of seeing it. Against the dark blue sky and the silhouette of the tree, were hundreds if not thousands of glowing fireflies. Looking like yellow-green jewels that had been scattered on a piece of dark colored velvet, the dim light making them radiant.

Eleniel couldn't speak for the wonder of it all, and even if she could, there were no words she think of that would give the sight justice. As the small fairy-like creatures flitted around, the long day finally caught up to the child. Her eyes became heavy, and the wondrous sight blurred as sleep softly invaded her mind. Her head was soon nestled into Haldir's broad shoulder, while her hands gripped his tunic.

He smiled down at the peaceful face, shifting her weight as he went on his way toward the city. It was perfect timing, he had heard some far off noises, most likely made by those looking for the interesting little elleth.

~*~

A Search Party in the Goldenwoods

Elrond had just gotten word that his daughter had been found by one the border guards, and was running in the direction they were coming. When he saw her sleeping serenely and quietly, the worry that he hadn't noticed building up disappeared. Thanking the ellon profusely, and making a mental note of his name and a better way of saying thank you, he took his little child into his arms not willing to let her go.

Before getting back into the city Eleniel woke to find herself in her father's arms, and held on tightly.

"Ada I missed you and Naneth so much", she paused to yawn, "I got really scared but Haldir came and made it better, but I'm really glad I'm with you again."

"I am to Eleniel, but I do think that tomorrow your mother and I will have some things to say to you."

"That's all right ada, I'm just glad to be back", and father and daughter continued a while in silence, just taking time to be together.

The sweet singing of a bird came to them in the following calm.

"What type of… bird is that ada, I heard… one earlier today, but I don't know *yawn*… what it is."

"That is a Dúlin, a nightingale, it does have a very pretty song doesn't it…" he paused when he saw she had fallen back to sleep, and thanked Eru that his child was safe as he smoothed her hair and gently kissed the top of her head. He had much to be thankful for.

~*~*~

Thank you for reading The Meeting, I'm planning on a sequel whether you people liked it or not. Bwahahaha!!!!!!…sorry about that, so keep an eye out for The Coming of Age.

If you enjoyed or hated this story, please give me info about your views because I am always up for some constructive criticism.


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